


A Garden in Edom

by glorious_spoon



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bittersweet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 05:37:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_spoon/pseuds/glorious_spoon
Summary: After Lilith is defeated, Magnus can't go home. Alec stays with him.





	A Garden in Edom

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [sh_ficletinstruments](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sh_ficletinstruments) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> "I regret nothing."

It’s after everything—after the battle, and Lilith, after the portal has slipped shut with terrible finality to cut them off from the world above, that Magnus finds him sitting on a ledge of stone overlooking the scorched valley beneath. He’s sifting dirt through his fingers, and his profile is thoughtful, impossible to read. He glances over as Magnus settles carefully beside him. Above them, blue magic stitches across the roiling sky; around them the world is hot and empty. Barren.

“Hey,” Alec says softly.

“Hey,” Magnus says back. He opens his mouth to add something else, then shuts it again. What could he possibly say, now? There’s a part of him that wants to rage at Alec, to ask him, _how could you, how _could_ you—_

He doesn’t. It’s already too late for that. Alec has made his choice, and it’s one they’ll both have to live with.

The rune on his arm is burning with strange power. Lorenzo’s magic and Alec’s own angelic blood welded together in a way that should be impossible; Biscuit always did have a knack for pulling that off. Alec glances over, catches him looking, and smiles slightly. Yellow magic flickers over his fingertips; Magnus doesn’t think it’s entirely intentional. It took him decades to learn to control his own magic properly, and it wasn’t alien to his entire being the way this is for Alec. 

It doesn’t matter. Time is the one thing they do have.

Time, and each other.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Alec asks, still smiling. He knows the answer; of course he does. 

“No,” Magnus lies indignantly.

“Good. Because I would rather it was you. You know that, right?”

Magnus swallows around a sudden lump in his throat, then nods. “I know.”

Alec nods. His fingers drag through the red dirt again, leaving furrows. “Do you think we could get anything to grow here?”

“I—” Magnus pauses, knocked slightly off-kilter by the question. He’s never even thought of that. He’s spent as little time as possible in Edom, up until now, and his recent attention has been taken up by more immediate concerns. “I don’t know.”

“There were trees.” Alec tilts his head toward the valley beneath them. “Down there, when we were coming in. Ugly trees, but still. If we could find seeds…”

A garden in Edom. Trust Alec to think of such a thing. Magnus laughs shakily and reaches for Alec’s grimy hand, twines their fingers together. “We’ll find a way.”

He doesn’t just mean the plants. Alec glances at him, then down at their hands. He rubs his thumb gently over the gleaming white-gold band on Magnus’s third finger, then brings their joined knuckles to his mouth to kiss. He’s still smiling a little, but his eyes are very serious. “Even if we can’t, I don't regret it. I won't. Okay? I need you to understand that.”

Magnus closes his eyes and finally lets himself lean against Alec. Lets himself believe, at least for now. “Okay.”


End file.
